The Courageous Lil Apple: Fruitville High
by xstarfruit67x
Summary: What happens when Apple and Mac grow up and go to high school...


THE COURAGEOUS LIL APPLE: FRUITVILLE HIGH

_When we first left the Courageous Lil Apple, he was just a kid trying to save his best friend Mac and a whole bowl of fruit from human consumption. Now he has matured a little bit, lost a little bit of his young, eager sheen. He is all grown up! (Not rotten, just slightly aged.) This fic imagines what life would be like for the CLA if he went to high school. Enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own The Courageous Lil Apple...this is all just for fun._

Fruitville High School is a place where all types of fruits go once they have aged a little bit. Kiwis, bananas, oranges, passion fruits, cantaloupes, apples, blueberries, and every type of fruit you can think of all coexist together as one giant, merry fruit bowl of a school. Infamous among your run-of-the-mill fruit was Apple, well-liked by everyone and known for getting into (and getting out of) some crazy shenanigans. Everyone knew about Apple and Mac. The two were best friends; you hardly saw or heard anything about one of them without reference to the other. They were like two peas in a pod. Well, you know, if they were vegetables.

But over time, Apple had been noticing changes in Mac's behavior. He often cut class and went missing for long periods of time. At first, Apple tried to justify Mac's behavior, thinking that maybe he had found a new hobby or was busy working on a school project or something. Soon, though, Apple could smell the root cause of his suspicion. It was obvious: he was huffing pesticides.

Conflicted, Apple didn't know what to do. He knew that his friend was killing himself, but there seemed to be no easy way to talk about it.

He was so stressed out that he had to excuse himself from Fruits of the World class just to clear his mind. Deciding to go the water fountain, Apple got a drink, slowly feeling refreshed. But then he heard it. He heard the voice of his best friend Mac talking in hushed tones with Penny the orange, who was a widely known pesticide dealer at Fruitville. Banana peels! This was the perfect opportunity to confront his friend. Apple didn't want to, but he knew that he had to do something before his friend threw his life away.

Slowly creeping into view, Apple asked, trying not to sound too confrontational, "What are you doing?"

Mac tried vainly to hide the small vial of liquid from Apple. "Nothing. You shouldn't sneak up on me like that! Why are you spying on me, dude?"

"I'm not spying, I'm just..." Apple trailed off, unsure of how to breach this topic of conversation. They had learned in class about how to say no to pesticides and how you might help a friend with a pesticide addiction, but Apple didn't think any of those methods would work. He decided to try having his own heart-to-heart with Mac. Apple grabbed Mac by the stem. "Look, Mac. I think you have a problem. You're addicted to something poisonous, something that is going to kill you eventually. I don't understand why you need to do this."

Mac pulled away from Apple's grip, increasing the distance between them. "What are you talking about?"

"You have pesticides, don't you? It's why you have been so moody and depressed lately." I just saw you get some off of Penny.

Mac blurted out, "I don't know what you're talking about!"

"I can smell it on you, Mac. You reek of pesticide. Don't even try to deny it," Apple said.

Mac started to get huffy, knowing that he had been caught and could not hide his secret any longer. "Yeah, well, so what? So what if I am?"

"You know that stuff is bad for you."

"You just don't understand, do you Apple? Things aren't so simple anymore."

"I think it is pretty simple. Quit. We can take you to Pesticides Anonymous; we can get you better."

Turning away, Mac spewed, "I don't want to quit."

Apple couldn't believe it; he couldn't believe that Mac didn't even want to try to get better. "If you keep up with this habit, I don't know if we can be friends anymore!" Apple did not want to give an ultimatum, but he felt like he had to.

"Maybe we just don't have enough in common anymore," Mac responded in a huff. "Maybe we...shouldn't be friends anymore."

"How can you say that? We've been through so much together!"

"Yeah, when we were three days old! Things have changed. Apples change. You need to face reality."

"Well who's going to save you when you're on the brink, huh? Who will be there when you get yourself into situations you just can't handle? I've always been the one to bail you out."

"Maybe you shouldn't have saved me all of those times. Maybe you should have let me get into my own messes!"

Apple couldn't believe that Mac was saying this, especially after all of the times that he had saved Mac from danger. "Without me, you'd be dead by now!"

"Wow, Apple, you think you're so high and mighty. Well, guess what? You aren't that special. Even though you have all the teachers fooled into thinking that you are 'The Greatest Apple in the Universe' or whatever, you are just a cocky little apple with a whole lotta luck. I know the truth about you." With a huff, Mac ran away, far away from Apple, who could do nothing but watch his (former?) best friend walk away. He was in total shock of the events that had just occurred. And Apple knew that if he let himself, he would cry.


End file.
